Shepherd Earns All-American Honors at NCAA Championships

PAMONA, CA- Bloomsburg University's Justin Shepherd (Cranberry Twp./Seneca Valley) finished 19th at the NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships to earn All-American Honors. Amber Hackenberg (Middleburg/Middleburg) represented the women's team, finishing 48th in the race.

Shepherd's time of 32:24 put him 19th out of the 172 competitors. He finished second out of all Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) competitors and also out of the East Region. Jeff Weis led the conference and region with a third-place finish of 31:18. Shepherd also placed ahead of Shippensburg's John Summers, a 1,500-meter national qualifier in 2005.

Hackenberg finished the 6,000-meter race with a time of 22:56 to put her in the 48th slot out of 180 runners. The 48th-place finish is the best in the history of the women's cross country program at Bloomsburg. She also had the second-best showing in the PSAC and East Region behind IUP's Mindy Sawtelle who took 16th in 22:03. Adams State won the team title with 54 points, while Grand Valley State was second with 69 points. In the PSAC, IUP took 10th, while Edinboro was 13th.